Before I compare all the broadband service providers of India, here is a little personal experience(it is more like rant) about my Broadband Connection. I am having Tata Indicom unlimited(?) Broadband(?) connection(?). 
Anyway I had to pay Rs 2804 for a 3 month connection of 128 Kbps (effective maximum speed is 20KBps) including installation charges. Though as promised of 2 days, they took almost 10 days and 15 calls to make the installation, which is just 10 minute work! Anyway so far it is working alright! Sometimes it gets connection failure for 10-20 minutes but otherwise it is OK. And From my past experiences, I can safely so do NOT take Sify unless you have no other option. Now here is my review of BIG Broadband service providers in India -
So Broadband has come a long way(remember those 56Kbps modems) and the scene is no different in India with many Internet Service providers (ISPs) offering Broadband Internet connectivity. Either be it for personal use or for small & medium enterprises, broadband is a very effective way to connect to Internet. Home users are best benefited as they can have better internet connectivity through broadband and they can do away with their old dialup modems which used to give a connectivity of 56kbps, as broadband gives above 256kbps for homes(BSNL and some others are also providing 2Mbps on some offers!).
The main players providing Broadband in India are Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Airtel, Reliance, Sify, Tata Indicom, Hathway, MTNL , Icenet etc. There are many companies who have local presence but these are the main players.
If you have a BSNL phone at home, it helps to go for BSNL Dataone Broadband connectivity. Once you subscribe for BSNL Broadband, you will be provided with a modem. The phone line will be terminated at a splitter and one line is connected back to your telephone systems. The second connection goes to the modem from the splitter. You can connect your computer to this modem directly while you can talk on your telephone.
While BSNL Dataone Startup 250 –plan allows you to connect to internet at just Rs. 250 a month ( or Rs 2500 per year), the limitations are the maximum limit of 1 GB upload/download and no night time free offer. If you cross the 1GB limit, you will be billed Rs 0.90 per MB. If your usage is more, you may opt for Home 500 plan with 256kbps, which costs Rs 500 per month ( or Rs 5000 per year) and can enjoy upto 2.5 GB data transfer. You also can enjoy free unlimited usage between 2AM to 8AM, if you want to download huge files. Consultants operating from house may opt for Home 3300 which can give you a great connectivity of 2Mbps and 20GB data transfer limit, with unlimited night time (2AM-8AM) free usage. The service is excellent and connectivity is good. One can play many games online as well. You will not regret for having this connection at home. BSNL is undisputed leader in broadband and I have not seen anyone complaining about it in forums like mouthshut or in IndiaBroadband forum. The only downside is that they take 3 months to install everything.
You may have liked Airtel mobile connection and want to use Airtel Broadband. It is a good option. Unlimited 499 offer allows you enjoy 64kbps connectivity at Rs 499 per month, if your usage is not high. If you are a power user, you may like to go for Home 1275 for 256kbps broadband. All these plans offer various call options as well like free minutes, reduced STD call tariff and ISD call tariffs.
You can enjoy good music downloads with music@ease and have fun with games. Airtel even introduced different online tests for the benefit of users. You can observe your house from anywhere by connecting a webcam and leaving your computer on. Depending on your usage requirement, you may select an appropriate plan. As expected, the service is good.
Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) was the one of the first providers of Internet connectivity in India. Tata group has taken over VSNL and this has become Tata Indicom and they offer one the most useful Broadband connectivity with wide ranging services and activities using broadband. You can enjoy online movies, music, games. The kids can have fun in learning as well by subscribing to various online courses and may even have practice tests like SAT, CAT GRE etc.
Tata Indicom connectivity offers you lot of excitement within their network. It is a simple affair to select TATA indicom broadband choice as the offer four options based on bandwidth. While 128kbps option is priced at Rs 700, high end 1 MBPS at Rs. 3600 per month depending on your speed of connectivity as all the plans offer unlimited monthly usage. Higher the bandwidth more fun you can have and have to pay more the tariff. This Tata Indicom is very useful if you want to have unlimited fun, without worrying about the monthly usage.
Sify Broadband offers broadband through out the country. One of the early providers of Broadband in India, they have various options for broadband connectivity for users. Originally, many cyber cafes were powered by Sify. One can choose for 1 month to 1 year plans. You may pay as low as Rs. 250 for one month connectivity with a limitation of 400 MB. One can subscribe for 15 hour usages at Rs 214. Sify offers many schemes from 64Kbps to 256kbps and many innovative plans. You may check them, if you want a connection for shorter periods.
Why 64, 256, 512 kbps? Reliance Broadband, interestingly offers 100, 300, 600 kbps! They offer different schemes like Online Speed Select (pay per minute), Data transfer (pay per MB), Flat Fee - unlimited use, Night Unlimited and Combo Plan. The connectivity is good enough. Interesting feature is Night Unlimited offer, where one can enjoy free broadband connectivity between 10 pm to 8 am. One can also surf during the day at additional charge, billed on per minute basis, like Rs 15 per hour for 100kbps connectivity during 8 AM to 10PM. This could cost you as low as 300 for a 100kbps connection to Rs 650 per month for 300kbps bandwidth.
Apart from the above there are many service providers who may be offering better broadband connectivity in your neighborhood. You need to identify your requirement and check different plans offered y the Service provider. Do not forget to check the additional usages charges, where ever there is a limitation on data transfer / usage per period, as the additional charges for excess usage can be heavy on purse.
In the End - Here are my choices. Go for BSNL if time is not a problem otherwise go for Airtel. Bur Airtel don't provide there service everywhere (like in my case) so in that case, Hmmm choose tata indicom or ask your friends, who is providing good service in the city.
Links you may find interesting -
- Tata BroadBand Online Support is not that Bad as I had thought !
- New Airtel Rates of Broadband
- India has Crossed 33 Crore Phone Users
- List of Best and Cheap Hotels in India
- Review of Low priced Cars in India - Maruti, Alto, Santro Xing, Fiat Uno, Tata Indica
August 23rd, 2007 at 4:36 am
[...] Articles - Which is the best Broadband provider in India ? | Which Bike to Buy ? | India’s Top 20 Non IIT Engineering Colleges This entry was published [...]
August 26th, 2007 at 3:54 am
[...] First of all, if you are not having Broadband connection and planning to get one, than read this article on Indian Broadband providers. [...]
September 20th, 2007 at 6:15 am
nice review about all isps … hey which 1 should i go for? the bsnl home3300 or tata indicom unlimited at 1mbps?
September 20th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
Hi Kapil, If you are getting BSNL than go for BSNL. I am having Tata indicom 128kbps unlimited as I didn’t got BSNL neither Airtel.
Now this is my first boradband connection so I have no idea how others work but Tata Indicom is OK, There routers do give problem but otherwise the rest is OK. Also if I remember correctly, they are only having 2Mbps unlimited offer, right ? from 9 to 9 ? or have they also introduced 1 Mbps offer ?
September 29th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Thanks a lot!!!
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I have this great site bookmarked. Thanks Kredit